The proposed project focuses on primary prevention of obesity in women by slowing the accumulation of weight in the childbearing years. The long term goal of the proposed study is to decreased the among of weight retained in the postpartum (post-pregnancy) period by lower income, rural white women who enter pregnancy with normal or high body mass indices (BMIs). This goal will be addressed by encouraging women to gain an amount of weight during pregnancy that is within the appropriate ranges recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The project specifically aims to decrease by 50% the proportion of women who gain the upper limit of the appropriate IOM range. The project will be implemented in a primary health care setting. The study has a prospective cohort design with an historical control group. A cohort of pregnant women who register for obstetric care in the first two trimesters of pregnancy will be recruited and followed until one year postpartum . During pregnancy they will receive guidance from health care providers that draws attention to the upper limit of the recommended range, a tool for self-monitoring of weight gain in pregnancy, and six motivation and action-promoting pamphlets that encourage goal setting and monitoring of eating and exercise behavior. Process and outcome evaluation data will be collected during pregnancy, at 6 months and one year postpartum through mailed questionnaires, an audit of the medical record, and direct weighing of women. Logistic and linear regression analysis will be used to determine whether there is a difference between the intervention group and the historical control group in the proportion of women who exceed the upper limit of the recommended weight gain range. Control and intermediate behavior outcome variables will then be added to the models to more fully understand.